Organizational Theory – an introduction
Carl Borge-Andersen, Norwegian School of Management, Oslo
Introduction
This is article, section, 1 presents an overview of Organizational theory.
Definition of an Organization
” An organization is a social system that is consciously constructed to achieve specific goals”.[1] The term social system reflects the notion that there are groups of individuals working together. Management organizes the group(s) which, will cooperate in reaching the organization’s determined and set goals. Thus an organization can be defined as: ”a group of people, with individual goals, who work together to achieve and materialize the organization’s set, common goals within the frame of their own goals and
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In figure 1 you will find a model describing the classical organizational principles of an organization. During the lectures, these elements will be covered in detail.
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Fig1 The basic elements of organizations (Notes, HAS3260, Lecture 8 Organizing, Culture and Design, Burton University)
Organizational Behaviour
Each organization has an individual organizational behaviour that can be described through the organizational mix consisting of the five issues listed previously.
Organizational Behaviour can also be defined as:
• How the members of the organization understand and interpret goals and guidelines for the tasks. • How the members choose to give priority to the different tasks • How the members of the organization solve the tasks
The term Organizational Behaviour can, based on the definition above, be divided into two central elements:
• people actions • people attitudes
There is however an implicit presupposition that the actions and the attitudes of the organization members are influenced and shaped by the organizations individuals, groups and leaders and by the impact of the environment.
Organizational Behaviour can thus be said to consist of the following three main organizational characteristics:
1. The Effect – the organizational structure impose on the organizational behaviour[6]
2. The Significance – the human factor impose on the organizational behaviour[7]
3. The
Buchanan, A. H. (2001). Organizational Behaviour:An Introductory Text (4 ed.). (F. T. Hall, Ed.) Pearson Education.
Classical organization theory evolved during the first half of this century. It represents the merger of scientific management, bureaucratic theory, and administrative theory.
Organisational behaviour is described as 'A field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within organisations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organisations effectiveness.'
Organizations are social entities that are driven by goals that are designed intentionally, and coordinated activity systems and they are linked to the external environment. It means that the organization should have a way of linking the internal and external environments. Organizations are made of people and the relationship between the people is essential. There is a deliberate move by organization management to come up with structures that ensure coordination of
An organization, in its simplest form, is comprised of people brought together to achieve a common goal whether it be solving a problem, selling a product or providing a service. The existence of the organization is wholly dependent on the collective body of individuals involved and it is these individuals that are the driving force behind the success or failure of a company. The relationships that connect the people within the organization dictate how the culture is developed and perceived.
As stated by Robbins and Judge (2011), “organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within
Daft, R. L. (2013). Introduction to Organizations. In S. Person (Ed.), Organizational Theory & Design (11 ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
they work” (2014). With the large amount of detail that goes into organizational behavior, there
Organizational behaviour is field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, group, and structure have on behaviour within the organization. It is the study and application of knowledge about how people act within organizations. It covers three determinants of behaviours in organizations: individuals, groups, and structure.
According to Miles et al. (1978, p. 547), an organization is both its purpose and the mechanism constructed to achieve the purpose. It means that the concept of organization is embracing both goals and all the elements that represent unique combination. Miles et al. (1978, p. 553) draws the conclusion that structure and the processes taking place inside the organization are closely aligned; it is hard to speak about one without mentioning the other. It is important to understand the conclusion drawn by Miles et al. (1978). It illustrates how the
Organizations are social entities that are goal directed, are designed as deliberately structured and coordinated activity systems, and are linked to the external environment (Kirst-Ashman, 2011). The four main parts of that definition are social entity, goal directed, deliberately structured, and link to external
When it comes to business as any organizations it requires a structure, based on the resources and demands organization can changed or modify their structure. The most common two structures are vertical and horizontal structure which we see every business organization in global market (Bateman & Snell, 2011). In today’s any business organization theirs and important trait is not only the structure, it is the functions within the organization. An organizing function in management highlights the practices individuals use to interact and work with each other. There are many business organizations that are very successful in their own
According to Laurie J. Mullins (2013. pp.4-5), “Organizational Behavior is concerned with the study of the behavior of people within an organizational setting, generally along the lines of understanding of individual and group behavior, and patterns of structure in order to help improve organizational performance and effectiveness.”
References:Huczynski, A. A. and Buchanan, D. A. (2007) Organizational behaviour: An introductory text. 6th ed., Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Different authors has defined the Organization in different ways, according to Keith Davis, “Organization may be defined as a group of individuals, large of small, that is cooperating under the direction of executive leadership in the accomplishment of the certain common object.” (Publish your articles, 2015)